Reunion
by Cedarleaf
Summary: AU. Darkness was all Roxas knew after he was cruelly taken from everything he once knew and loved. But a chance encounter with an old friend might just be his key back to the Light. [SoraxRoxas]


-x-X-x-

**Reunion **- Part 1

-x-X-x-

For the first time in all his 25 years, Sora Nomura wanted to get madly, passionately drunk. Fighting off both the biting numbness that was seeping into the edges of his soul and the memory of the event that lead to his sudden craving for booze, he forced his breathing steady, watching his fellow patrons to distract himself while he waited for the bartender to make her way over to him.

It was quiet for a Friday night. Given, it was the opening weekend for that new nightclub everybody was talking about, so it was bound to be a little slow. Still, there were a few people in the bar, all regulars by the look of them.

One of them caught his eye however, a young man roughly his own age, sitting at the far side of the counter. Blond hair, cerulean blue eyes, wearing a white shirt and just a hint of a tan, he was very pleasing to the eye but that's not why Sora noticed him. It was the aura of quiet pain and loneliness the boy carried about him, as if he had been forgotten by the world. His eyes, though bright, were empty as they stared unblinking at the glass before them.

And it was as he was studying the boy's profile that Sora realized why he looked so familiar.

"Roxas?"

-x-X-x-

He should have just stayed at home tonight. He should have just said he was overtired from work, rented a movie, and spent the night pigging out on his couch.

But no, he had to let himself get dragged out to yet another club for yet another night of partying and blatantly erotic dancing and strobe lights and painfully loud music that was always followed by half drunken sex. So what if the club was new and owned by someone he knew? He was sick of it. He was sick of being tugged along by his boyfriend like a dog on a leash.

So he'd left. Hadn't said anything, just grabbed his coat and left.

He'd meant to go home but somehow he'd found himself at the bar. Back when he'd first ended up on his own, he'd worked at the place as a dishwasher to help pay his tuition and even after he'd gotten another job, he'd remained good friends with the staff. Then his _other_ friends began pulling him down into that he was beginning to refer to as the Underworld and he came to the place less and less. He didn't think he'd been there in four months.

But now, having taken those first steps towards distancing himself from the "Organization," Roxas somehow found himself back in Tifa's pub. Compared to the fumes of alcohol and smoke of Castle Oblivion, the smell of the worn leather seats and old style liquor was like a breath of fresh air.

Tifa did a double take when he'd first walked in, but she'd waved him over anyway with a smile and a gentle, "Hey, stranger."

Even as she welcomed him though, she seemed to sense he needed to be left alone for a while. She mixed him his favorite drink then let him be.

So here he was, still nursing the daiquiri an hour after he'd ditched the club, staring at his glass, wondering when/if his boyfriend would notice he was gone.

"Roxas?"

The sound of his name brought the blond out of his brooding. Roxas turned around to find it was a rather good looking brown-haired young man who called him. There was something familiar about him….

"Roxas McCartney?" the brunette called again, smiling a little.

The smile did it.

"Sora!"

-x-X-x-

Ten years ago, when there was still light in his life, Roxas had been best friends with the most wonderful person he'd ever met, Sora Nomura.

They'd been born next door neighbors, and because Sora was a month older than him, Roxas had literally known him all his life.

They grew up together, playing among the paopu and coconut trees and on white sand beaches. They discovered the world together, learning life's ups and downs, its joys and rewards, always side by side. Until they were fifteen, they were inseparable, not even with a crowbar.

Until they were fifteen, when Roxas' father got a promotion. Roxas tried to be happy for his father, but along with the promotion came a move to damn near the other side of the world, away from the only home he'd ever known.

Away from Sora.

Mr. and Mrs. Nomura had offered to take Roxas in, allowing him to at least finish high school where he'd started and to stay with his friends, but Roxas' mother wouldn't have it. They moved.

Roxas could still remember the day he'd left. He remembered feeling like his insides had been replaced with lead. His friends had all come to see him off. Kairi kept coming up and hugging him. Tidus and Wakka gave him the blitzball they always practiced with, everybody's names, phone numbers, addresses and farewell messages scribbled all over it. Selphie gave him a kiss on the cheek. Riku clapped him on the shoulder and told him to take care of himself. Sora said nothing, just stood next to Roxas as the movers put the last of the furniture in the truck, fighting back his tears as he was forced to watch as his best friend was taken away from him.

Then it came time to leave. Roxas, carefully putting his presents in the parents' car, turned to give them one last goodbye. One by one, he hugged and kissed them all.

He approached Sora last. They took a long look at each other before Sora threw his arms around his friend, praying to the gods that this wasn't really happening. Roxas couldn't be going away, he just couldn't. The blond hugged him back just as fiercely. "I love you," he whispered so only Sora could hear.

"I love you, too." Pulling back just enough so they were nose to nose, Sora met Roxas' tear stained eyes with his own. "I will come find you again. I promise," he vowed.

"I'll look for you everyday."

They would have said more, but the movers were getting impatient. It was time to go.

Still in a daze, Roxas watched as if in a trance as his mother gently pulled him from the best friend he had ever known then guided him over to their car. The slamming of the car door brought him back.

He twisted around just in time for one last glimpse of home through the back window. One last glimpse of Sora being held back by Riku to prevent him from giving chase.

It was his last glimpse of paradise.

-x-X-x-


End file.
